Posted: 01/01/2005

Million Dollar Baby

(2004)

by Oren Golan

If there was ever a boxing movie that could appeal to anyone, pugilist fan or not, it’s Million Dollar Baby. Clint Eastwood has done it again, with a lot of able help. Eastwood directs with a light touch, much like in Mystic River, but the real showstoppers are the performances by Hillary Swank, Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman.

Swank plays Maggie, a country girl who has been waiting tables at a diner for 18 years who decides to pursue her dream of being a boxer at the age of 31. “Plays” isn’t the right word though] Swank inhabits Maggie, becomes her in a way that such a famous actress should not be able to. Her Maggie is determined to train under Frankie, the crusty old trainer and cut-man played by Eastwood. Frankie runs the Hit Pit gym with the aid of his friend and former pupil, Scrap (Morgan Freeman). And Frankie doesn’t train girls, or he doesn’t until Maggie softens him with her determination and toughness.

The three main characters have all seemingly been ground down by their tough lives. Both Maggie and Frankie have family problems - Maggie’s family sees her as a meal ticket, while Frankie is estranged from his daughter. They eventually form a bond that is deeper than most romances and unburdened by the weight of a father-daughter relationship. Much like the wounds Frankie has to fix on his fighter’s faces, their ties go down to the bone.

Again, Swank turns in a superlative performance. Her Maggie is strong yet vulnerable, pliable yet hardheaded. Eastwood has her at times tower over her opponents, yet in her biggest fight she looks like a little girl severely mismatched. Eastwood is great too, giving the old role of the trainer who learns from his pupil a fresh and subtle turn. Freeman’s Scrap adds to the mix occasionally and also moves the story along with his deadpan narration that adds gravity without hokeyness, much like Freeman did in Shawshank Redemption.

Million Dollar Baby never takes the easy road to sentimentality, but earns the attachment of the viewer through blood and guts. The script is fine, with lots of quick one-liners that are drawn out to reveal the characters over the course of the film. The film takes hold and never lets go, unlike the fierce Maggie who prefers to deliver first-round knockouts. Superb actors giving excellent performances bolstered by a great story - what else could it take to be considered a masterpiece? Let’s hope that Eastwood, like his character Frankie, never loses his touch for turning top-notch raw material into a finely polished gem.

Oren Golan is an attorney in Chicago when he isn’t arguing that Streets of Fire is the greatest movie ever made.

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